Led by Facebook, those mobile pennies have graduated into dimes with no signs of slowing down. What’s even more surprising is we’re seeing early signs that the value of a mobile user is greater than a desktop user.

“The future of television is apps,” said Apple’s Tim Cook before unveiling the new browser-less Apple TV. Which got me thinking. What if there was an alternate reality where apps were the original TV channels?

One of the biggest challenges of understanding mobile is realizing how fundamentally it changes how we think. Mobile is not just a new design or distribution channel, but a new way of life. Vertical video is a great example.

The most popular mobile media experiences — from Facebook and Instagram to YouTube and Pandora — are all powered by some form of personalization. A new crop of apps are taking it up a notch, experimenting with “contextual awareness.” But in media circles, personalization has always been a bit of a bad word.

In March of 2013, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed, “We want to give everyone in the world the best personalized newspaper in the world.” You’d think a statement like that would stir up the press, but it made barely a blip.